The Irish standard., 1887-01-22
COUNTING THE Cos;.
Interesting Facts and Figures from Uncle
SAINTS Book of Estimates.

sam's Book of Estimates.
The annual book of estimates sent
60 the House on the opening of Con-
gress gives some interesting facts and
figures relative to the cost of running
great Government like that Of this
country. Congress, for instance, is
costly luxury. The salaries Of mem
bers amount to two millions OF dol
lars, and the total cost Of the Legisla-
tive Department for the year is esti-
mated at over five and half million
dollars. 1t is remarkable how helpless
man gets as soon as he gets into Con-
gress. Put him in law office at home.
and if he has anybody to wait on him
it is an office boy at a salary Of about
81 week. Put him in Congress and
give him the privilege Of hiring his at
tend;.nts out Of the Government purse
and it costs from S5 to 500 day for
his assistants. The estimates for the
clerks and messengers and other SUBJ
ordinates for the Senate for the fiscal
year amount to $341, 900 or about
$4,000 for each member When you
consider that this is for q session that
is to last but six or eight months at the
furthest, you find that it gets up a
pretty large per diem. The estimates
for the service Of this sort in the House
are a considerably larger sum- The
cost of the public printing, which is
charged in with expenses of congress,
is alone about two and half millions.
The President and the corps of clerks
employed for his assistants cost little
less than Il hundred Thousand dollars.
The cost Of the general departments of
the Government varies greatly. The
Executive proper is the least expensive,
the total being put at but 1926, 200,
while the cost of the Treasury Depart
ment is put at $140, 100000. In this.
however, are included the sum Tie de-
partment needs to pay the interest OH
[ the public debt and provide a sinking
fund. The total cost Of running the
Government FOR the next fiscal year is
put down at 1926. 900, 600, or 81, 900, 900
a day olnitting Sundays.
The book Of estimates is large
volume Of $50 pages, and growing
larger every year. 1t contains minute
calculations and estimates of the cX~
penses for the year ending June 80,
! 1888. The details OF these estimates
are something curious. They tell the
number of clerks shat every depart
ment can have, the amount that each
| Collector Of Internal Revenue may
spend. the number Of clerks to be ap-
propriated for at the White House, the
sum that The Presidents fireman at the
Executive Mansion may be paid, and
other min,ltim that would astonish YOU,
Yet it is said that the detail is not as
great in the case OF this Government as
is the case in some other countries
''The minureness of our estimates
are nothing to that practiced by
the British Government, said
Congressman jackson, OF Penn
sylyania, to your correspondent,
riding down from the Capitol at the
close of the session. The big book Of
$50 pages of estimates had occasioned
some remark about the petty details
that the Government was asking its
lawmakers to consider each year.
s'The details ct the expenditures arc
not nearly so remarkable as those of
the British Government" he said.
>"rhey have studied the art OF running
the Government at an economical and
prudent rate for 81 long time, and seem
| TO have it down to a much finer point
! than we have. Their book Of estimates
is much larger than ours. and the de
| tails whicl, their lawmakers consider
much more minute. Washington Cor,
| Cincinnati Times.